I'll Keep You My Dirty Little Secret
by alexherrera5
Summary: Beca cheats on Jesse. What happens when her one-night stand shows up at her house for dinner?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everyone! So this story is not related to any of my other previous stories. I've decided to try something new. I haven't abandoned the Mitchell family though so don't worry. I just wanted to give a multi-chapter story a try. So if you like this story and want me to continue it, please let me know! Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Beca sighed as she tossed the final plate onto the dining room table. Jesse did one of those things where he'd invite his friends over for dinner and then tell her about it at the last second. It wasn't the first time he's done this and it probably won't be the last. Today he invited one of his close friends/coworker, Luke. He also invited Luke's longtime girlfriend who she has yet to meet. Something Beca was not thrilled about because now she would probably have to entertain this girl while Jesse brought Luke into the garage to scratch their balls and do whatever else men do. She quickly checked the roast that she had in the slow cooker before heading upstairs to get dressed.

Beca and Jesse had been married for a little over two years and as horrible as it is to say it, Beca regrets every second of it. She can't help but wake up every day with that gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her she's done exactly what she promised herself she wouldn't do: settled. She thought she wanted to marry Jesse. She thought she was in love him. She does love him. She just isn't in love with him. They weren't even dating a year when he proposed, but she foolishly said yes because she felt like she should, not because she actually wanted to. She let him plan the white wedding of _his_ dreams and when he cried as she walked down the aisle all she could think about was the fact that her dress was too tight around her ribs. She didn't want to be in this house. She didn't want to sleep next to him, or have his babies. Sex with him feels more like a chore than anything else and it takes everything in her power not to scrub herself raw after each 'love making' session. But Jesse is a nice guy. He takes care of her, shows her off, and ultimately does everything any woman in her right mind could ever ask for from a husband. He lets her win when they play video games, always leaves her the last slice of pizza, and let's her pick the large drink they share when he makes her see a movie with him. He is everything she's ever wanted in a person, but he isn't her person. She knew he wasn't and she swallowed that feeling hoping it would change, but it hasn't. Now she is in a one-sided marriage, but not only that. As of three days ago she is also a cheater.

Three days ago while Jesse was out at some D&D thing with his friends, Beca decided to hang out with a friend of her own. Her best friend, Stacie, dragged her out of the house to a local club spewing some shit that Beca needed to live a little. Not even being there for an hour, Stacie found some hot blonde to shack up with, leaving Beca alone at their table. When the brunette was about to call it quits and head home, a gorgeous redhead slid into the booth next to her and informed her that their friends had gone home with each other. She had tried to introduce herself to the mystery woman, but she stopped Beca and told her she likes a little mystery and wanted both of them to remain anonymous in a sense. Beca agreed and let the woman pull her onto the dance floor. She also agreed to be pulled into a taxi, pushed into the woman's apartment, shoved onto her bed, and then urged to sit on her face. You get the idea. It was the first time in a long time that Beca has had a pleasurable sexual experience. It was also the first time in a long while that she actually wanted to have sex. It was slow, sexy, sloppy, and passionate all at the same time and Beca loved it.

It wasn't until she was wrapped in the redhead's arms that what she had done actually hit her and she cried. She cried because she _didn't_ regret. She cried because she felt bad about not feeling bad and when she tried to rush out of the apartment, the woman caught up with her and pulled her into her arms and back into bed. The redhead wiped tears from her eyes and patiently waited for Beca to talk to her, and boy did Beca sing like a canary. She told her about Jesse, how she felt about him and how she didn't feel. She expected to be kicked from the bed when she told the woman she was married and let out a sigh of relief when she was just pulled closer. It seemed the mystery woman had some secrets of her own. She wasn't married, but she was in a relationship, an abusive one. She showed Beca the bruises on her wrist, the scar on her forehead, and her chipped tooth that she would be getting fixed the next day. Beca doesn't understand why she opened up to this stranger and why she opened up to her in return. Maybe because it was the fact they were strangers that made it so easy. It was clear this would be a one-night stand. She didn't even know the woman's name. That's probably why it was so easy. They both obviously needed to vent and they were both okay knowing that there was a stranger walking this Earth who knew their deepest, darkest secrets. Beca snuck out early the next morning while the woman slept and doing so broke her heart. She made sure the door was locked behind her before stepping into her Uber and heading home.

Beca wanted to forget about what happened. She wanted to carry on with her life as if nothing happened, but she couldn't forget. She couldn't forget her curly red hair and glassy blue eyes. She couldn't forget the taste of her lips or the way her skin felt under her fingertips. She couldn't forget the way the woman's thighs tightened around or head or what her moans sounded like. She couldn't forget and she didn't want to forget.

The doorbell ringing pulled Beca from her thoughts. She quickly brushed and fluffed her hair one last time before exiting her bedroom and shutting the door behind her. She could hear Jesse and Luke talking loudly in the front room. She made a pit stop in the kitchen to turn off the crockpot and pull the baked potatoes from the oven before going to greet her guests. She made a face when she got the front room only to see Luke and Jesse. She gave Luke a side hug and he squeezed her tightly.

"I thought you were bringing your girlfriend with?" Beca questioned, peeking out the window to see if there was anyone else outside.

"I did! I picked her up straight from work so she had to use the restroom." Beca could hear the flush of the toilet followed by the sink going off so she just nodded her head and attempted to pull away from the hug. She heard the bathroom door unlock and open. Luke turned his head in the direction of his girlfriend and smiled. "There she is! Beca, this is my girlfriend Chloe." The brunette put on a big fake smile before turning to Chloe to greet her.

"Hi, Beca! It's so nice to meet y-you." Chloe's enthusiasm faltered and Beca's smile dropped when she turned around to greet Chloe. She had the red hair and beautiful blue eyes that were branded into Beca's brain.

Oh shit.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Chloe."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So the amount of love and encouragement I got for the first chapter of this fic was seriously overwhelming. I don't think I could thank you all enough for reading and for your nice words. In honor of the Pitch Perfect 3 trailer getting released today, I figured I would upload chapter 2 a few days earlier. If you all wanna come say hi to me on tumblr my name on there is: you-call-it-a-dude. I really hope you enjoy this chaper.

The awkwardness between Beca and Chloe blanketed the whole room like a thick fog. They were all still standing around in the front room, none of them moving since they all greeted each other moments ago. Beca looked up at Jesse and in this moment she has never been more thankful of the fact that Jesse was good at sensing Beca's uneasiness. He probably just chalked it up to Beca not being good around new people and she plans to let him continue thinking that's what was happening in this moment.

"So, who wants a drink?" Jesse asked after clearing his throat.

"I'll have some whiskey if you've got it, bud." Jesse nodded, taking in Luke's request before pointing at Chloe.

"Can I get you a drink, Chloe?"

"Um," The redhead looked up at Luke and he slightly shook his head. It was subtle, but Beca was paying close attention to him so she was able to pick up on it. "Just water for me, please."

"Coming right up! You can take a seat in the dining room while Becs and I get dinner plated and your drinks ready." Beca just nodded in agreement and went directly to the kitchen as Jesse showed Chloe and Luke to the dining room.

/

Dinner itself was fairly quiet. At least on Beca and Chloe's part. Each them dutifully sat next to their men and listened as they droned on about music, number sales, sports, and everything else they were interested it. Beca sat across from Chloe and watched her as she tried to take up as little space as possible. She couldn't help but wonder where that free-spirited Chloe from three nights ago ran to. Actually no. Beca knew exactly where it went. She may have only met the redhead once, but they intimate moment they shared together was also a freeing one for the both of them. The Chloe sitting in front of her was just a shell and it made Beca's heart want to shatter.

Once dinner was through, Beca started gathering the plates together so she could take them to the kitchen. Chloe noticed that Jesse and Luke were doing nothing to help her so she decided to. She gathered both her and Luke's plates and silverware and stacked them together. She stood up and leaned across the table to hand them to Beca, accidentally knocking over her water glass in the process and spilling water all over the tablecloth.

"I'm so sorry." Chloe immediately grabbed napkins and started pressing them onto the water to soak it up. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." She kept apologizing as she frantically tried to clean up the mess. Beca set the plates down and leaned forward to grab Chloe's shaking hands and stop her from cleaning.

"It's okay. It was an accident and it's just water." Beca looked over and could see irritation written all over Luke's face as he and Jesse watched on. "I needed to wash this tablecloth anyway, right Jesse?"

"Right! No harm done." Jesse offered her a reassuring smile before returning to start another conversation with Luke.

"Come on, Chloe. Why don't you keep me company in the kitchen?" Beca grabbed one stack of plates and Chloe grabbed the other one. Chloe set the plates next to the sink just as Beca did and stood awkwardly next to the brunette. "You can sit at the counter while I put these in the dishwasher." Chloe just nodded her head and took a seat.

They were silent for another few minutes until Jesse came running through the kitchen and announcing he had to use the bathroom. Luke followed in after him, laughing. He stood behind Chloe and wrapped his right arm across her chest. At this point Beca decided to turn around and put leftovers away into Tupperware containers. She nodded her head and listened to Luke talk to the both of them casually. It wasn't until Beca actually looked up to speak to him that she noticed something. His fingertips were white. The type of white they get when you press them down hard onto something. He was digging his fingers into Chloe's collarbone and he was doing it right in front of her face. She made eye contact with Chloe while Luke continued to babble on. The redhead gave her a pleading look, silently asking Beca to just leave it alone. Beca couldn't do that.

"Hey now, you know how I feel about PDA in my own house." Beca said jokingly, walking over to Luke and playfully nudging his arm off of Chloe. He just laughed and gave her a playful shove back.

"You're right, you're right. Don't release the hounds on me."

"I won't this time, but if I catch you doing it again I'm gonna have to." Beca said, punctuating her sentence with a punch to Luke's bicep.

"Message received. Your husband is beckoning me; we will be in the garage if you need us. Please don't need us though." Luke said before following Jesse out into the garage. Once Beca heard the click of the door shutting, she made her way over to Chloe.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." The redhead said, crossing her arms over her chest before relaxing and looking up at Beca. "Thank you."

"So much for remaining a mystery, huh?" Beca teased, nudging Chloe's shoulder.

"Shut uppppp." Chloe hid her face in her hands

"You have a beautiful name. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl, it all makes sense."

"Please don't do that." Chloe said sadly, making Beca frown in return.

"Don't do what? Compliment you?"

"Flirt with me. Compliment me. All of those. You can't- it makes me feel things that I shouldn't feel." Beca took a step closer to Chloe and swiveled her chair so the redhead was facing her. She placed herself between Chloe's slightly parted legs.

"What does it make you feel?" Beca asked, leaning in so their lips were almost touching. Chloe eyes were hooded and Beca could hear her breath catch in her throat.

"Beca." Chloe said warningly, putting her hand on Beca's chest, but not actually pushing her away. Beca smirked and looked down briefly. Something caught her eye and she pulled back a bit. She pulled down the collar of Chloe's shirt and exposed the three tiny bruises already forming on her collarbone. "That's what happens when you've got pale skin."

"Don't joke about this." Beca said as she softly ran her fingertips over the bruises. "I don't understand why you don't just leave him." Chloe scoffed and pulled the collar of her shirt up.

"I don't understand why you don't leave Jesse. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." She said defensively.

"My situation with Jesse is completely different. He's hurting you, Chloe. You aren't married, you don't have kids with him. You haven't even been with him for a year. You don't even love him. You can leave him and not look back."

"You make it sound so easy, but it isn't." Chloe said sounding defeated. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." She lightly shoved Beca away and stood up, grabbing Beca's water glass from dinner and finishing what was left. "Can I have more water, please?" She asked anxiously. Beca quickly stood up and pulled a water bottle from the fridge and handed it to Chloe.

"I didn't mean to upset you. Please sit back down. We can talk about something else." Chloe nodded as she downed her water. She sat back on the stool and set her water down on the counter. After a few minutes, when everything seemed to have calmed down, Beca spoke up again. "Can I tell you something?" She asked, cautiously making her way back between Chloe's legs, letting out a sigh of relief when she wasn't pushed away.

"Yeah." Chloe nodded, looking down and messing with the bottom of Beca's shirt.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you." Beca said softly. She leaned down a bit so her face was in Chloe's sight.

"Really?" She asked, attempting to fight off her smile.

"Really." Beca broke into a grin herself when she saw Chloe's smile come through. "Oh! Is that a smile I see? Look at the gorgeous smile."

"Stoppppp. You're so embarrassing."

"I totally know that you think it's sexy though." Beca added a half-assed wink that made Chloe laugh. The redhead grabbed her by her shirt and pulled Beca closer to her.

"I totes think it's sexy." She said in a low voice that made Beca's knees week. The brunette couldn't help herself and started leaning in.

She pressed a soft kiss against Chloe's lips, letting out a groan when the redhead kissed back. She tasted just like she did three nights ago. It wasn't a specific flavor, it was just Chloe. God, was it addicting. Chloe pushed herself up a bit and pressed her lips harder against Beca's while simultaneously pulling her closer. Kissing Jesse was nothing compared to kissing Chloe. Jesse was all teeth and tongue when he kissed and it made Beca feel dirty. But kissing Chloe, someone whom she barely knew and someone who most definitely was not her husband made her feel holy and pure. She was soft, but knew all the right moments to be rough. Beca could hear the back door opening. By the time it even registered that their husband and boyfriend were seconds away from catching them, Chloe had pushed Beca away and was composing herself. Beca was quick to think on her feet and shuffled over to the coffee maker and began to prepare it. The two men waltzed in the room, reeking of beer and cigar smoke. Beca plastered on a smile and turned to the two of them.

"Hey! You two are just in time for coffee and dessert."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: So I know I should come up with a weekly schedule for this story, but you all are just so great and so kind with all of your words that I have a hard time making you wait! I can't thank you all enough for the tremendous support I've gotten on this story. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

It had been four days since Beca had last seen Chloe. She wanted to tear her hair out because she hadn't gotten Chloe's number. So not only has she not seen her, but also she has no way to get in contact with her so she could see her again. She felt like she was going mad. She knew she was going to have to go through Jesse in order to see Chloe again, but how do you tell your husband that you want to get together with his best friend and his girlfriend without sounding like you desperately want to fuck one of them? If it were up to Beca she would've asked Jesse if they could all get together the very next day, but she decided it would be smart to wait until the weekend. That Saturday morning Beca moseyed into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Jesse's neck in an attempt to soften him up a bit before asking.

"Hey you." Jesse said, setting down his coffee mug and leaning his head back into Beca. "What's up?"

"I think we should do something today."

"Yeah?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "What'd you have in mind?"

"We should see what Luke and Chloe are up to and do something with them." She said as she started massaging his chest, doing everything in her power to stop the eye roll that was threatening to come out.

"Mmm, okay. I'll give Luke a call."

"Great!" Beca pulled back and ruffled up Jesse's hair before going to make herself some tea. Jesse just stood up and laughed, assuming that this was just Beca being Beca. He made his way into their bedroom and Beca impatiently sipped her tea as he waited for him to return. Jesse returned into the room not too long after he left with a grin on his face.

"You up for a barbecue at Chloe's? It'll just be them and us."

"Sounds great, Jess. Do we need to bring anything?" Jesse shook his head and loaded his mug into the dishwasher.

"Chloe said they had everything they needed." Jesse rested his hands on Beca's hips and started nipping at the brunette's neck. Beca put her hand on his stomach and pushed him gently.

"I need to shower." She slithered out of his grip and began to make her way to the bedroom, praying he wouldn't follow her, but he was hot on her heels.

"I'll join you."

"I'm really not in the mood today, Jesse." He just nodded and pulled some boxers from one of his drawers.

"I'll just shower in the guest bathroom."

/

The outside of Chloe's apartment complex looks a lot nicer in the daytime. It was this gated community type of deal that had a pool, a fire pit, a gym, and an area designated for grilling and cookouts. It was actually really nice. They pulled into a parking spot near Chloe's building just in time to catch her and Luke bringing out whatever food needed grilling. Jesse and Beca quickly exited their car so they could give the two of them a hand. Jesse grabbed the tray that Chloe was carrying and she thanked him with a smile.

"Can I help with anything?" Beca asked, feeling kind of rude just standing there empty handed.

"Actually, would you be willing to run to the grocery store with me?" Chloe asked sweetly. How could Beca ever refuse her?

"Yeah, of course. Do you want me to drive?"

"If it isn't too much trouble. Otherwise I can just run upstairs and grab my car keys."

"No, it's definitely not a problem. You've just gotta tell me where to go." She said as she made her way to Jesse to pull the car keys off of his index finger.

"Of course. We will be back soon. Try not to burn anything down you two." The redhead called out behind her while she followed Beca to her car. She got into the passenger side and smiled up at Beca. They sat in silence the entire ride, aside from the directions Chloe was giving her. "Turn left down this road." Chloe said abruptly. Beca was confused as to why Chloe was making her turn down a dirt road when she could visibly see the sign for the grocery store up ahead, but she did as she was told. "Stop the car." Beca slammed on the breaks and killed the engine.

"What are we doing?" She asked, giving Chloe a confused look when she unbuckled both of their seatbelts. Before Beca could register what was happening, Chloe had pushed Beca's chair as far from the steering wheel as it would go and climbed over the center console to sit on Beca's lap. "Oh fuck, baby."

Chloe ground her hips down against Beca and neither of them could suppress their moans. "I like when you call me that." The redhead bent forward and captured Beca's lips in a kiss so good that it made Beca dizzy.

Beca's hands found their way into the back pockets of Chloe's shorts. She couldn't help herself and squeezed roughly, making Chloe moan against her lips. She used this as an opportunity to slide her tongue between Chloe's parted lips. When she felt Chloe's tongue brush against hers, Beca pushed her down, hoping Chloe would get the hint that she needed some time of friction and she needed it now.

Beca pulled away from the kiss when it began getting difficult to breathe. She looked up at the disheveled woman on her lap and bit her lip. She grabbed the hem of Chloe's shirt, lifting it slowly so it would give Chloe a chance to stop her if she didn't want to continue. She admired every inch of skin that came into view. The firmness of her abs, the shape of her belly button, the way her muscles would jump when Beca dragged her fingernails across her stomach. Beca must've been going too slow for Chloe's liking though. She felt like she was hit in the chest when the redhead took matters into her own hands by pulling up her own bra and exposing her gorgeous breasts to Beca.

"Fuck, baby." Beca said, taking in every detail as she possible could. She felt Chloe thread her fingers through her hair and give it a tug and that was all Beca needed. She leaned forward, taking one of Chloe's hardened nipples into her mouth. She felt like she had died and gone to heaven. She was showering Chloe's chest with attention. Soft kisses, light bites, gentle sucks in all the right places. She had Chloe whimpering above her. All good things must come to an end though and Chloe's cellphone started to violently vibrate in the cup holder of the console. She calmed herself for a moment before answering the phone.

"Hello…No we will be back soon. The first store we went to didn't have the beer you like so we are going to a different one…Okay…Yeah, you too…Bye." Chloe sighed and tossed her phone back into the cup holder. She pulled her shirt down and went to climb off Beca's lap, but the brunette stopped her.

"Gimme a kiss, baby." Chloe smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Beca's lips. "Mmmm, one more?" She leaned in again and let the second kiss linger a little longer than the first. "Ya gotta give me a real good one. It's gotta hold me over." Chloe forcefully pushed her lips against Beca's, cradling her face in her hands. She deepened the kiss briefly before gently nipping at Beca's bottom lip as she pulled away from the kiss. While the brunette was in a daze, a very cocky Chloe slid back into her seat.

"Will that hold you over?"

"If I say no will I get another kiss?"

"Nope." Beca pouted and turned the car on again.

"Can I ask you something?" Beca asked, making a left on the main road when she finally reached it.

"Of course."

"Did you lie to Luke when you said that you had everything you needed for dinner tonight so that I could go with you?" Chloe smirked and put her hand on Beca's knee.

"Absolutely, babe."

/

When they finally made it back to Chloe's with the beer, sodas, and ingredients for s'mores (because of course Chloe would want to make them), Jesse had sent Beca a text that they had finished grilling and were inside with the food. Where they really gone that long? Beca being the gentleman she is, she lugged all the heavy bags up three flights of stairs. Chloe held the door open for the brunette. Luke immediately got up and snatched the bag with the beer from Beca.

"Finally. Jesse and I were dyin of thirst over here." He pulled out a beer, popped the cap off with the bottle opener on his keychain, and then handed it over to Jesse.

"I wouldn't go that far. Thank you for bringing the drinks, ladies."

"We also got stuff for s'mores!" Chloe said excitedly. Beca didn't miss the eye roll that came from Luke as he took a sip from his drink.

"That's perfect! I don't wanna brag, but I make the best s'mores ever." Jesse boasted in an attempt to toot his own horn.

"I'm really excited to try them, Jesse!"

/

Dinner was filled with light conversation between the four of them. Beca learned that Chloe loves photography, art, and music amongst other things. Luke said the two girls should exchange numbers because the two of them talked about attending a concert some time in the near future. Beca whipped out her phone so fast that it almost flew out of her hands. She was quick to blame the greasy cheeseburger she ate for her butterfingers. Once the sun was set, Jesse suggested that they all head outside to the fire pit to get started on the s'mores.

"You guys can go ahead. I'm going to use the washroom and then change into something warmer cause it's getting kind of cool out. Beca, did you want to borrow a sweater or something?"

"That would be great actually. I'm like a Chihuahua. I get cold easily." The brunette said, making the other three laugh.

"Let's go get the fire started so I can get my s'more on." Jesse said, practically already out the door with the bag that contained the ingredients. Luke just followed, shaking his head and shutting the door behind him.

"You can sit in my room while I go to the bathroom." Beca nodded, quickly pulling Chloe by her shorts and planting a chaste kiss on her lips.

"I'll be waiting."

Chloe went off into the direction of the bathroom while Beca made her way to her bedroom. She sat at the foot of Chloe's bed, looking around the room and remembering every detail from their night together. The area on the dresser where Chloe sat and she made her come the first time, the middle of the bed where Beca was sitting on Chloe's face and grinding against her tongue like her life depended on it. God, she wanted to do it all again. Chloe came back into the room and pulled her from her thoughts.

"Did you want a hoodie or an actual shirt?" She asked while going through her dresser and pulling out a long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans for herself.

"A hoodie, please."

"They're in my closet, just pick one, babe." Fuck that made Beca's heart flutter like crazy. She headed into the closet and rifled through the many hoodies, deciding on a gray one that had 'Beale' written across the back of it. When she turned around, she frowned because she had missed Chloe taking off her jeans.

"Aw, you couldn't wait till I was looking to change?" She pouted. Chloe kissed her pout away before slowly stripping off her t-shirt. "Now this I like. God, you're beautiful." Chloe playfully smacked Beca with her t-shirt.

"You're not so bad yourself." She said with a wink. Beca watched on as Chloe fumbled to turn her long-sleeve shirt so the sleeves were no longer inside out.

"What happened to your back?" Beca asked sternly when she caught a glimpse of something red and aggravated on Chloe's back through the reflection on the mirror.

"Nothing. It's nothing." Chloe said quickly, trying to slip her shirt on it record time.

"Nothing, my ass." She placed her hands on Chloe's hips and turned her around, lifting up the back of her shirt to reveal a raised and bruised handprint between her shoulder blades. "Baby, when did this happen?" Beca asked softly, knowing it might scare Chloe if she got angry in front of her. "Talk to me." She rubbed light patterns on the bottom of Chloe's back, hoping it'll soothe her.

"It happened after we left your house. He was mad I spilled the water." She said quietly. Not only was Beca taken aback, but also she was fucking livid. She had said it was okay. Both her and Jesse said it was fucking okay. She lowered Chloe's shirt and cleared her throat.

"I'm going to beat his ass and see how he likes it!" She attempted to say it calmly, but it ended up being played out like that scene in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was far from calm.

"No, please don't say anything. Please, baby." Chloe begged, frantically pulling at Beca's arms. Chloe made the brunette wrap her arms around her and sighed into Beca's neck when she tightened her grip around her waist. "It'll just make it worse. Please?" She looked at Beca, her eyes threatening to spill over with tears. She was utterly torn. She wanted this to stop and for Chloe to be safe, but on the other hand doing nothing will keep her safer. Beca sighed loudly and frowned.

"Okay." She said sounding defeated. Chloe traced Beca's frown softly with her fingertips before kissing her.

"Let's go make some s'mores, okay?"

/

When they got to the area where the fire pit was, the fire was high and the wood was crackling. Beca loved that sound. As much as she wanted to sit by Chloe, she took the seat between Jesse and Luke. Jesse gave Beca a skewer with a giant marshmallow and she stuck it into the flames, waiting for it to cook just to her liking. When her marshmallow was crispy, but not burnt she decided it was time to get it off her skewer. She took the top half of her graham cracker and used it to scoot the marshmallow up to it was easy to get onto her plate. She 'accidentally' pushed it too high up, which sent the hot, sticky marshmallow falling off her skewer and onto Luke's bare knee. Luke shot up, trying to get the hot marshmallow unstuck from the hair on his legs.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Luke finally got the marshmallow unstuck from his leg. He had a few hairs missing and it was a little red, but no actual harm was done.

"It's alright, Bec. It was an accident. I'm just going to go rinse the stickiness off my leg." Beca watched on as Luke exaggerated a limp over to the men's room that was near this area of the apartment grounds. She was a little scared to look over at Chloe, but when she finally got the balls to do it, she saw that she was smiling.

"Would you like another marshmallow, Becs?" Chloe asked, extending the bag of them towards her.

"I would love one, Chlo. Thank you."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey everyone! Here's another chapter for you. I clearly lied when I said I was going to try and develop a schedule and stick to it. But seriously, thank you all so much for reading, favorting, following, and reviews. All of your sweet words are what makes me what to get these chapters out so fast. I can't thank you enough. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chloe was avoiding Beca. She was straight up ignoring her and Beca couldn't figure out why. It had been two weeks since she had gone to Chloe's house for the barbecue and they had seen each other briefly a few days after. Jesse and Luke had been sent to Chicago for a week for some fancy pants business meetings and Beca was sure that she and Chloe would spend the entire time together. That's what she had hoped. Except now they are three days in and Chloe has ignored every single one of Beca's texts and phone calls. She was terrified that she had done something wrong or that Chloe was just no longer interested in having any type of involvement with her. Even if that were the case, Chloe should at least have the decency to tell her.

Beca somehow ended up in her car, fuming as she drove to Chloe's apartment (she still picked up an early dinner for the both of them because she wasn't a total bitch). When she arrived, she stormed up the three flights of stairs, stopping herself from pounding on the door and instead knocked lightly. She could here Chloe's feet shuffling and the door cracked open in the slightest before the redhead opened it all the way. Beca couldn't help it and frowned at her. She looked so tired and drained.

"I brought dinner." Beca said holding up the bag that had Mexican food in it. Chloe just nodded and stepped aside to let her in, shutting the door once Beca entered. "Why haven't you answered my calls or texts?"

"I just haven't been feeling well. I'm sorry. I'm so happy you're here." Chloe said softly, burying her face in Beca's neck. Before she could wrap Chloe in a tight hug, she pulled away and started pulling out the food. "This smells amazing, babe." She said with a slight smile. That word could make Beca's heart feel like it was going to burst out of her chest.

"You said you weren't feeling well, let me take care of this." Beca said as she shifted Chloe to the side a bit so she could continue to pull out the rest of the food.

"You didn't have to buy all of this, you know? It's just the two of us." Chloe was looking down at the table of food. It almost seemed like a Mary Poppins bag. Beca bought each of them four tacos, containers of rice and beans, chips and guacamole, and nachos. Beca just shrugged her shoulders. "I'll pay you back for my food."

"Uh, you will do no such thing. Now go sit your butt down in the living room and pick something for us to watch, baby. I'll bring the food in."

/

There was a marathon of House Hunters happening. As the food disappeared, both of them settled in. Chloe had her feet across Beca's lap and Beca was alternating between massaging her feet and rubbing patterns on her shin. Both of them though were being very judgmental of the couples on the show as well as critiquing every decision each one made (just as one should when watching the show).

"You okay?" Beca asked when she saw Chloe wince when she tried shifting positions.

"I'm okay, baby. Can we maybe go lay in bed?"

"Of course, gorgeous." Beca stood up and waited for Chloe to get up as well.

"I'll meet you in there. I'm just going to use the bathroom."

"Do you feel dizzy or something? Do you need help standing up?" Beca was already getting ready to help her up from the couch, leaning down to pull her up from her armpits.

"No!" Chloe yelled, startling Beca and making her retreat back. "I mean no, baby. I'm okay. Just go wait for me in the bedroom, please?" She pleaded. Beca knew she was hiding something. And she could definitely guess what it might be. She just nodded and stepped out of the living, but instead of going to the bedroom she stood in the hallway and watched Chloe wince and whimper while she tried to get up off of the couch. Chloe yelped when she saw Beca standing in the hall with her arms crossed. "You scared the shit out of me, Becs." Beca stayed silent. She lessened the distance between the two of them and gripped the hem of Chloe's shirt. "Please don't." She said and Beca could tell she was trying not to cry.

"Let me see, baby." Beca whispered softly in Chloe's ear. She pressed a kiss to her temple before pulling away to lift up Chloe's t-shirt.

Beca had an inkling that Luke had done something. Not even an inkling. She fucking knew. She didn't know what to expect when she lifted Chloe's shirt, but she definitely didn't expect to see what she saw. Chloe's ribs were black and blue on both sides. From her hip bones all the way up to under her breasts. Beca gasped and Chloe immediately tried to shove her shirt back down, but Beca didn't let her. When she realized Chloe was now crying, Beca pulled her shirt down and cradled her face in her hands, wiping her tears with the pads of her thumb.

"Why did he do this?"

"I don't know. All he said when he did it was it was 'one for the road.'" Beca seriously wanted to kill him. She knows that after this it's going to be hard to hide her hatred towards him and at this point she doesn't even care.

"I'm going to take care of you, okay?" She pressed a kiss to Chloe's lips, then each of her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, and then one more on her lips. She wrapped her arms around Beca and buried her face in her neck. "Do me a favor and go lay in bed for me, baby. Okay?" Chloe nodded and Beca led her to the bedroom, making sure to help her get settled. "I'm going to bring you some water, okay?"

"M'kay." Chloe managed to croak out as she carefully tried to get comfortable.

Once Beca was out of the room she pulled out her phone and started Googling what the hell to do because she had no clue. WebMD was basically her best friend at the moment. She read through what to do for bruised ribs as well as warning signs that something may be wrong. She went into Chloe's bathroom and searched her medicine cabinet for some ibuprofen. She shoved the pill bottle into her pocket and made her way back to the kitchen. She grabbed the cloth towel hanging on the stove and tossed it onto her shoulder before opening the freezer. She huffed at the lack of ice packs before deciding to grab the bag of frozen mixed vegetables. She quickly took a water bottle from the fridge as well before heading back into the bedroom. She saw Chloe with tears running down her face, still trying to get in a comfortable position. Beca set everything on the nightstand before climbing on to the bed and kneeling next to Chloe.

"Let me help you. I'm going to have you sit up just for a second okay?" Chloe nodded her head and wiped her tears away. Beca extended her left arm out and Chloe took hold of it. Beca slowly helped pull her up so she was sitting up. She let the other girl lean against her while she used her other hand to stack all of the pillows Chloe had on her bed, behind her back. "Okay, slowly lean back." Chloe tightened her grip on Beca's arm and she started to recline back, Beca's arm following to make sure she didn't fall back too hard. She sighed in relief when her back hit the pillows and she was in a reclined position. "Better?"

"So much better. What took you so long though?"

"I hope you don't mind, but I totally raided your place for supplies."

"No, I don't mind at all."

"Okay, good!" Beca hopped off the bed and made her way back to the nightstand. She poured some ibuprofen into her hand, putting whatever extra came tumbling out back into the bottle. She handed two of them to Chloe and then gave her the water bottle, quickly snatching it back to open it. "Take these, please." Chloe took and swallowed the pills with a big gulp of water. She handed the bottle back to Beca, who placed it on the nightstand. Afterwards, Beca wrapped up the frozen vegetables in the cloth towel and gently rested it against her abdomen. "Does that feel okay?"

"Perfect. Kiss me please?" Chloe pursed her lips, awaiting the kiss. Beca carefully leaned down and kissed her softly. Beca pushed Chloe's hair off her forehead and pressed the palm of her hand against it, then doing the same with her cheeks. "What are you doing?"

"I'm making sure you don't have a fever. Can you breathe? Or does it hurt when you do?" Beca watched as Chloe took some experimental breaths.

"It doesn't hurt, but it aches."

"Okay, you need to tell me if it starts hurting." Chloe nodded. She was itching to salute at Beca, but it hurt too much to be sassy right now. "Will you be okay while I run home real quick?"

"Why are you going home?" Chloe said with a slight pout.

"Hey now." Beca bent forward and placed another soft kiss against her lips. "I promise I'll be back. I'm going to pack a bag and stay with you."

"Bec, baby. I can't ask you to do that. What about work?"

"Shush you. I want to take care of you. I'll bring my computer and work from here. Don't you worry. I'll be back soon okay?"

/

Beca returned to Chloe's place forty-five minutes later. She set her laptop bag on the counter and quietly entered the bedroom, setting her duffle bag on the floor softly. Chloe seemed to have fallen asleep while Beca was gone, so the brunette quietly made her way to the bed and pulled the defrosting bag of vegetables off of Chloe's abdomen and brought them back to the freezer. She took a detour to the living room and located Chloe's Internet router. She pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of the Wi-Fi password on the back and then grabbed her laptop bag from the counter. She carefully settled herself on the bed next to Chloe and began working on her laptop.

After about an hour of working, Beca felt light scratching on the exposed skin of her back. She turned to see Chloe staring at her, sporting that post nap grogginess. Beca smiled at her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Hi, sleeping beauty."

"Mmm, hi there. I like waking up with you here. Wish it could've happened the first time we slept together." Chloe's fingers lightly scraped Beca's skin again, making her shiver.

"Someone is sassy when they wake up. How are you feeling?"

"Horrible. When can I take the ibuprofen again?" Beca looked at the clock on her computer before frowning slightly.

"Two more hours." Chloe let out a pitiful whine that broke Beca's heart.

"Do you want more ice on it?" The redhead shook her head. "What can I do for you then, love?"

"I feel gross. Can I take a shower?"

"Of course. You wait here while I get your clothes together."

/

Once Beca got together Chloe's clothes, she helped guide the redhead to the bathroom. She turned the shower on to the temperature Chloe asked her to and carefully went to work with helping Chloe undress. She started with her pants and underwear because those were the easiest, but she was dreading taking off Chloe's shirt. She worked at a pace Chloe set, soothing her whimpers with soft kisses and coddling.

"You're going to come in with me, right?"

"If that is what you want, then of course. I can get my clothes after."

Beca pulled another towel for herself from the linen closet and quickly undressed herself. She led Chloe into the walk-in shower and helped guide her to sit on the marble bench. She took the removable showerhead from its holder and cascaded the warm water down Chloe's back. The redhead responded by resting her forehead against Beca's stomach and groaning. Beca handed Chloe the showerhead to hold as she stretched to retrieve Chloe's bath sponge and body wash. She lathered the sponge up and started with washing Chloe's back. Once her back was washed, she swapped the showerhead for the sponge to let Chloe wash the rest of her body.

"Do you want to wash your hair?" Beca asked once Chloe's body was rinse off.

"Will you think I'm nasty if I say no?"

"I would never. Let's get you dried off."

Getting Chloe dried off and dressed was a lot easier than getting her undressed. Chloe opted to forgo on wearing any type of pants, so she was wearing a loose fitting t-shirt and a pair of cute panties. She was also in a playful mood because the entire time Beca was trying to dry her off and get her dressed, Chloe was pulling Beca's towel undone. She finally got Chloe settled back onto the bed and gave her two more ibuprofen before going through her duffle bag to pull out clothes to sleep in. She pulled the towel off and dropped it on the floor, earning a wolf whistle from Chloe

"Like what you see, huh?" Beca stuck a pose and sent Chloe a wink.

"I think you should find out if I like what I see." Chloe said spreading her legs slightly for Beca.

"I'm pretty sure physical activity is a no no when you have bruised ribs." Beca quipped, already crawling between Chloe's legs though.

"It's a good thing you'll be doing all of the work then." Chloe threaded her hands through Beca's hair and gave it a slight tug. The brunette leaned in and began pressing soft, open mouth kisses against Chloe through the front of her panties. Chloe gave Beca's hair one more tug to get her attention. "Move them out of the way." Beca was nothing if not obliging. She moved the piece of material to the side and took a long swipe through Chloe's center with the tip of her tongue, moaning at the taste.

"You taste so good, baby." She took Chloe's sensitive bundle of nerves into her mouth, alternating between sucking and flicking her tongue.

"Shit, just like that." Beca gave a particularly hard suck and Chloe gasped, curling her toes to try and keep her hips from lifting off the bed. She tugged Beca's hair a little bit harder. "Softer, please, baby." Beca nodded, easing up on her actions. She used her left hand to spread Chloe's lips open a little more. She used the tip of her tongue again to explore Chloe, looking up to watch the redhead's reactions. She hit a particular spot and Chloe's thighs trembled a bit.

"Right here?" Beca pulled away briefly to ask before repeatedly running her tongue over that same spot softy.

"Mhmm. Right there, baby." Beca was eager to make Chloe come, but she had to keep herself in check. Unlike the last time Beca did this, Chloe was injured. She hadn't even expected Chloe to want to have sex.

As eager as Beca was, she wanted to make Chloe feel good. Even though the last time they had sex was rough and wild, now was not the time for that. Beca was slow and soft, reveling in the soft moans coming from Chloe. She would occasionally stop to make sure if her ribs weren't hurting too much and the redhead would reassure her that she was okay before pushing her head back to where it belonged. She wanted to make Chloe come. She was determined to do it. She knew it might take a little longer considering the state of Chloe's ribs, but she was going to do it.

Or maybe she wasn't.

With the ever so perfect timing, her phone started ringing, blasting that obnoxious ringtone that Jesse had for himself. She wasn't going to answer it. Jesse could wait. She told Chloe to ignore it, while doubling down on her efforts to keep Chloe from losing interest. Except Jesse kept calling and not only could she tell that Chloe was losing interest, but she was losing it, too.

"God damnit!" Beca pushed herself off of the bed and snatched her phone from the nightstand. She accepted the call and answered with the bitchy attitude she couldn't control right now. "What? Okay Jesse…whatever, goodnight." Beca hung up the phone and all but slammed it on the nightstand again. She angrily began getting changed into her pajamas.

"Awe, you don't have to get dressed though." Chloe pouted, lightening up Beca's mood a little bit. "What did he want though?" She asked slightly irritated as Beca slid into bed next to her.

"He called to say goodnight. That was it. Called me ten times just for that. I've seriously told him even when we were dating that I hated that shit. I hate it even more because he killed the mood."

"Yeah." Chloe said still sounding and now looking irritated.

"Did I do something wrong?" Beca asked, sadness tingeing her voice. Chloe's face softened and she ran her fingers through Beca's hair.

"No, you didn't do anything. Let's just go to sleep, please?"

"Chl-"

"I wanna go to sleep!" Chloe practically screeched. Forgetting for a moment that her ribs were bruised, she dramatically turned on her side. She gasped loudly then proceeded to let out a shaky breath, doing her best to try and not cry.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Beca asked softly, resting her hand on Chloe's back.

"Yes." She responded, her voice cracking from the tears that were now falling.

"I'll go get the vegetables."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Holy shit, guys! The support on this story has seriously been amazing. I love and appreciate every single one of you and all of your kind reviews keep me going. I do have one quick question: I have absolutely zero talent when it comes to drawing, so if one of you wants to maybe draw cover art for this story I would seriously love you forever. Feel free to come say hi to me on tumblr! My name on there is you-call-it-a-dude. The story is starting to pick up so I hope y'all are ready to hang on for the ride. Enjoy!

Beca had spent the rest of that week at Chloe's apartment. The black and blue bruises on her ribs have faded into yellow and green ones. They had spent their days together cooking meals together, watching whatever television shows or movies Chloe picked out, and doing tons of making out. Beca loved constantly being next to Chloe. Falling asleep and waking up next to her. When Jesse and Luke returned from their trip, Beca was sad that she had to go back home to Jesse. It didn't stop her from going to Chloe's frequently though. And Jesse was none the wiser of her intentions because he was just happy that Beca had more than one friend and wasn't constantly at home.

It was a few weeks after Jesse and Luke returned from their business trip. It was a Friday night and Beca was at Chloe's apartment to hang out and watch some movies, but not really watch them. They were sitting on the couch in the living room; Beca was shirtless and had her right leg draped over Chloe's lap while the redhead teased her through the flimsy lace of her panties and whispered dirty things in her ear. When she finally slipped past the barrier, Beca's hips practically shot off the couch. Chloe continued her teasing, though, rubbing light circles on her sensitive bundle of nerves. Just when Beca looked like she was about to go crazy, Chloe pressed down firmly and rubbed just the way she knew Beca liked it.

"Does that feel good, baby?" Chloe nipped at Beca's neck before lightly sucking the skin, careful not to leave any marks. Beca just gasped and nodded, pitching her hips up to the left a little. "You like when I fuck you?" The brunette threw her head back and moaned. Chloe lightened the pressure on her clit. "Tell me." She demanded.

"Fuck, Chlo. Yes. I like it." She placed her hand over Chloe's in an attempt to get her to speed up. "Please, baby. I'm so close. Please go faster."

"What was that? You wanted me to slow down?" She questioned, stopping her movements almost completely. Beca looked like she was ready to cry from aggravation.

"Chloe, please!" Beca begged and this time Chloe had pity on her. She doubled down on her efforts, rubbing Beca's clit without much precision, but it was getting the job down. She could see the muscles in Beca's abdomen tensing and she knew the brunette was about to fall over the edge. Beca thighs snapped shut, trapping Chloe's hand while she rode out her orgasm. Once Beca relaxed, she covered her face with her hands and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Chloe asked as she pulled her hand from Beca's panties and sucked her fingers clean. Instead of responding, Beca bit her lip and shot forward to capture Chloe's lips in a kiss. Chloe heard a loud knock on the door and tried to pull away from the kiss to answer it, but Beca kept pushing herself forward each time Chloe pulled away. "Beca- I –need- to- answer- the- door." Chloe said between kisses. The brunette finally pulled away with a sigh and plopped back onto the couch, picking up her shirt and bra to quickly pull them on.

When Chloe got up to answer her door, she could see the door slightly opened. The only thing keeping it shut was the chain she had latched on. She picked up her pace when she saw a hand sneak through the gap and try to pry the chain off. When she got closer to the door, she realized that she wasn't in fact being robbed, but it was Luke trying to get it.

"Let me in, Chloe." He slurred, sticking his face through the opening of the door. A few months into their relationship Luke made himself a key without Chloe's permission. That is why she has taken to using the chain lock as well since then.

"No, Luke. You're drunk." She had said loud enough in hopes that it would get Beca's attention.

"Come on, baby." He stuck his hand into the door and pulled on Chloe's shirt. It made Chloe want to gag every time he called her that.

"Get out of the door." Luke just smirked and stepped back. Instead of letting him in, Chloe slammed the door and locked it before running off into the living room to Beca. "Beca, he's here and he's drunk." Chloe said as she threw herself on the couch. "He didn't seem mad, but I locked him out again. He has a freaking key though."

"You'll be okay, baby. He won't touch you while I'm here." Chloe nodded and gripped Beca's hand.

Both of them listened to Luke pounding on the door, until it stopped. They both sighed in relief, but the relief was short lived. They could hear Luke monkeying with the door he probably unlocked again, except this time he didn't call out for Chloe to let him in. He slammed his body against the door once and the metal chain broke off. Before they even realized what was happening, Luke was in the living room and had Chloe by one of her ankles, pulling her off the couch and onto the floor. Her back hit the floor with a thud. She had no clue what Luke was yelling at Chloe about, but the redhead had her feet pushing into his stomach to keep him away from her. Beca's ass finally kicked into gear and she ran behind Luke, pulling him back from the collar of his shirt. She knew her five-foot-two frame had nothing on Luke's six-foot-something, but boy did she fucking try. She used the heel of her foot and kicked the back of his knee, making him stumble. She did it again with the other leg and Luke's drunken self finally toppled over. Beca immediately ran to Chloe and pulled her up.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Beca shouted and Luke held up his hands in defense.

"Shit, Beca. I didn't know you were here." He stood up and Beca responded by pushing Chloe behind her protectively. "Maybe you should go home, Beca."

"I will do no such thing. You need to get the fuck out." Each step Luke took towards to two of them, Beca would take two back, pushing Chloe back with her.

"Chloe and I were just messing around I wasn-"

"Step the fuck back." Beca cut him off when he kept trying to step closer. "I will not hesitate to call the police if you are not out of this house in ten seconds."

"Bec-"

"Get out!" Luke stormed out of the apartment, pushing past the two girls. As brave as Beca was being, she was shaking like crazy. When she noticed Luke stormed off without his keys, she pulled them from the door and took Chloe's house key from his keychain. She then made her way to the window where she can see Luke standing by his car looking for his keys. She opened the window and threw them from the third floor, not giving a fuck if it hits him or if they break. "Pack a bag, Chloe."

"What? Becs, please calm down, baby." She pushed open the door of Chloe's room and started pulling clothes from her dresser and setting them on her beg.

"I will not calm down. Get a suitcase or something and put your shit in it. I'm not letting you stay here. Because he is probably going to come back and I am not leaving you alone." At this point Beca ad grabbed Chloe's toothbrush and hair products and dumped them on the bed as well. Chloe quietly went into her closet and pulled out her suitcase and set in on the bed. Beca immediately flipped it open and started tossing Chloe's stuff in there.

"Hey now. I'm going to come with you, there's no need to be rough with my clothes." Chloe joked. Beca's head snapped up and she had tears running down her face.

"Are you seriously going to make jokes right now?"

"This is just how I deal with this stuff, Bec. I'm so used to it by now."

"You shouldn't be used to it!" Chloe flinched and covered her ears. "Shit, baby. I'm sorry." She pulled her in by her shirt and wrapped her in her arms tightly.

"I'm so glad you were here to protect me." Chloe said with her face buried in Beca's neck. "I think something bad would've happened if you weren't."

"Finish packing your suitcase, okay?" She pulled away and gave Chloe a soft kiss. While Chloe went off to finish packing her bag, she pulled out her phone and dialed Jesse. She took in a shaky breath when he answered and she knew Jesse immediately picked up that there was something wrong.

" _ **Becs, what's wrong?**_ _"_

"Can Chloe stay with us? Please?"

" _ **What is going on? You're worrying me**_ _."_

"Luke came over and he was drunk. He got pissed that Chloe wouldn't let him in. I'll tell you more at home, just please say yes, Jesse." Beca practically begged.

" _ **Did he fucking touch you, Beca? I'll kick his ass**_ _."_

"No, Jesse! Please let her stay."

" _ **Yes, Bec. Of course she can stay. I'll get the guest room ready. I'll see you soon. I love you."**_

Beca hung up the phone instead of responding. She tucked her phone back into her pocket and helped Chloe finish up. Beca pulled Chloe in for a few more kisses before turning Chloe around to lift up the back of her shirt, checking for bruises, but she found none.

"Bec, what about my job and my car?" Chloe asked, confused about the details of this arrangement.

"Follow me in your car. You can park it in my garage so you can get to work."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Chloe. I'm not letting you stay here. He's probably going to fucking come back tomorrow and try something. I'm not letting you come back here until we get you a new lock, a new chain lock, and until shit calms down. I told you I was going to keep you safe and take care of you and I am not breaking my promise." Chloe pressed another long kiss against Beca's lips and nodded. "Are you ready to go, my love?" Beca internally cringed at the name. It just slipped out and it felt so right, but she was worried it would freak Chloe out. That was the last thing Beca wanted to do. But instead Chloe looked up at her and smiled sweetly.

"I like when you call me that." She said softly, burying her face back in Beca's neck in embarrassment.

"Well, I like calling you that." Beca pulled Chloe's suitcase off of the bed. She set it by the door and quickly took a peek out of the window to make sure Luke actually left. "Okay, he definitely left. You have everything you need? I can always come back for stuff that you forget."

"I think I've got everything I need, baby."

"Okay, let's head out then."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry in advance for the cliffhanger ;) This chapter addresses Jesse, so hopefully this will answer the questions and concerns that a few of you brought up in the last chapter. Thank you all so much for your support. Reviews are always encouraged and are extremely appreciated. Feel free to follow me on tumblr and say hi: you-call-it-a-dude. I hope you enjoy!

Jesse was waiting for Beca and Chloe in their driveway when they both pulled in. He opened the garage door for Chloe and then pulled her suitcase from the trunk. Once all three of them were back in the house, he pulled both of the girls into a tight hug. As awkward as the situation was, they both accepted his hug. Once he pulled away, they both showed Chloe where the guest room was.

"Thank you for letting me stay here. Is it okay if I maybe take a shower? It's been a long day."

"Of course, Chloe. Becs, do you want to show her how the shower works?"

"Definitely. Come on, Chlo." Beca led Chloe across the hall to the guest bathroom. She set the water to whatever temperature Chloe had asked her to before turning the water on. Chloe was sitting on the closed lid of the toilet seat and Beca stood in front of her. The redhead rested her head on Beca's stomach and Beca massaged her scalp lightly. "I'll meet you in the guestroom after your shower, okay?" Chloe nodded and Beca placed a soft kiss on her lips.

Once Beca left and shut the bathroom door behind her, she made her way to her and Jesse's bedroom. He was just finishing up changing into his pajama pants when Beca walked in. She wordlessly walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his bare chest. She may not be in love with him, but she appreciates how sweet of a person Jesse is. They've definitely had their fair share of extremely heated arguments, but Jesse has never laid a hand on her and she was never afraid that he would either. She sighed into his chest when he wrapped his arms around. He gave her a tight squeeze before pulling away from the embrace.

"Are you okay?" He asked softy. He perched himself on the edge of the bed while Beca changed into her pajamas.

"I'm fine. I wasn't the one practically dragged through the apartment." She turned to look at Jesse with a slight frown on her face. "He really hurts her, Jesse. When you were away I- I stayed with Chloe to help take care of her because he beat her so badly."

"I never would've guessed that Luke was this way. I most definitely cannot be friends with an abuser."

"Is it okay if I stay with Chloe downstairs in the guest room? I'll come back up once she falls asleep."

"Of course, Bec. I'll be here if you need me. I'll probably be asleep by the time you come back, so I love you and goodnight." He said as he situated himself under the covers. Beca smiled sweetly at him from the door.

"Love you, too. Sweet dreams, Jess."

/

Beca made her way down to the guestroom. She saw the door was slightly ajar so she knocked softly before opening the door and entering the room. She shut the door behind her and smiled at the redhead who was sitting on the bed and brushing through her wet locks. Chloe returned the smile and stood up to place her brush on the dresser and then made her way to Beca and pulled her in for a hug. The brunette inhaled deeply, smelling the fruity shampoo from the guest bathroom in Chloe's hair and it made her stomach flutter. She's noticed that Chloe makes her stomach flutter a lot.

Beca pulled back the covers on the bed and slid in, patting the empty spot next to her. Chloe excitedly hopped in with a big smile on her face. She lay on her side to face Beca and shot the brunette a look of confusion when she caught her furrowing her eyebrows.

"Lay on your back or on your stomach." Instead of questioning it, Chloe did was told and decided to lie on her back. Beca scooted closer and propped her head up with her right hand while her left hand lifted Chloe's shirt until it rested just under her breasts. "I wanna play a game. Close your eyes." Chloe let out a small sigh and she settled deeper into the pillow and shut her eyes. "M'kay, good. Now try and guess what I am drawing or writing." Beca lightly took her index finger and drew a circle around Chloe's belly button, followed by flower petals around it.

"Hmm…it's a flower."

"Yep." Beca brushed her palm across Chloe's stomach to 'erase' the flower she just drew. She thought for a moment before she started drawing various shapes across the redhead's tummy.

"Is it a house?" Chloe questioned. Beca did a little dance in excitement because she was correct. She erased the house drawing from Chloe's tummy.

"Let's do words now. I'll start off easy." Beca started to trace out each individual letter with broad strokes across her belly, punctuating it with a poke to let Chloe know she was finished, making her giggle and squirm a little.

"I'm fairly certain there wasn't an 'I' in that word." The redhead teased. "Cat?"

"You got it!"

They continued with this game for a while. Beca's arm was starting to tingle from holding herself up, but she didn't care. All she knew was that she didn't want to stop doing this. She loved watching Chloe bite her lip as she tried to figure out what Beca wrote. She loved the goose bumps that would spread across Chloe's abdomen whenever Beca would write out a 's' or a 'g'. She loved Chloe. She was _in love_ with Chloe. Before she even realized what she was doing, she had already written those words softly across Chloe's stomach. And it wasn't until the redhead had gripped Beca's wrist and turned to face her that Beca had recognized that Chloe had figured out what she wrote.

"You're in love with me?" Chloe asked gently, sounding somewhat surprised. Beca started panicking. This wasn't how she had planned on telling Chloe or if she had even planned to tell her at all. She was looking everywhere but at Chloe and eventually she had to place her hand under Beca's chin to get her to look at her. "Becs?"

"I- uh." Beca had become a stuttering mess and she was mentally cursing at herself to fucking get it together. Chloe scooted as close to Beca as she could possibly get and pressed their foreheads together.

This was a good sign, right?

Chloe wasn't running or pushing Beca away.

"Yes. Yes, I'm in love with you." She said softly, but with a little confidence. Chloe smiled brightly and pressed a kiss to Beca's lips.

"I'm in love with you, too, Becs…"

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming." She said sadly.

"But what about Jesse?"

"I'll talk to him soon."

"When, Bec?"

"Soon, baby. I promise."

/

Beca woke up the next morning tangled up in sheets and in Chloe. Shit. She hadn't gone back to her bed like she promised Jesse. She peeked up at the clock on the nightstand and saw it was 7:30am. She sighed and started to untangle herself from Chloe's embrace so she could make breakfast for everyone. As soon as Beca stepped off the bed and onto the creaky wood floors, Chloe's head shot up. The redhead made a convincing argument as to why Beca should stay in bed, but Beca ended up coaxing Chloe out of bed with the promise of pancakes and tea.

Beca was at the counter mixing the pancake batter and Chloe was at the kitchen table sipping her tea when Jesse came stomping down the stairs. The two girls looked at each other in confusion because it was way too early for someone like Jesse to be angry. He trudged into kitchen still dressed in his pajamas, his hair wild, and his eyebrows furrowed together. As soon as he was at a short enough distance, he threw a birth control packet at Beca and it landed with a soft thud as it hit the counter.

"Want to explain?" Chloe eyes widened at his clipped tone, but Beca didn't seem phased by it.

"What is there to explain? It birth control." Beca said without batting an eyelash.

"Chloe, could you give us a minute please?" Jesse said calmly in an attempt to not take his anger out on the wrong person. Chloe just nodded and silently picked up her tea.

"No, she can stay. Chloe, sit down." Beca said harshly and the redhead plopped back into her seat and set her tea back on the table.

"I'm so confused as to why you have these, Beca. I thought we were trying for a baby?!" Jesse shouted. Chloe's eyes widened and she took a sip of her tea.

"No, Jesse! You were trying for a baby! I told you I didn't want to have one, but you went ahead and took it upon yourself to flush my other birth control pills down the toilet. So I refilled my prescription and hid them. Because you don't fucking listen to me!"

"Because babies are supposed to fix things and make people fall in love!"

"What if it doesn't, Jesse? Then what? We have a baby in a loveless marriage? I would never wish that on any child."

"We still have to try, Beca! This could be what fixes us." Beca slammed her hands against the counter in aggravation.

"You said that about the proposal, and about getting married, and then about therapy! You have known how I felt for the longest time and you know what? It's not even entirely your fault because I kept agreeing to these things, too. I can't do this anymore, Jesse. Please sign the divorce papers. Please?" Beca pleaded.

This confession had seriously shocked Chloe. _**Jesse won't sign the divorce papers.**_ Chloe had so many questions to ask Beca. Why hadn't she left him if she already had divorce papers drawn up? Why did she keep trying? So many 'whys' were running through Chloe's mind, but for now she would keep her mouth shut, drink her tea, and not look at either of the two people arguing in front of her because she didn't want her gaze to interrupt them.

"I don't want to sign the stupid papers. I want to keep trying to fix this. The baby will fix it, Becs. I know it." Jesse said softly. He placed a hand on Beca's stomach and it made Chloe's little green-eyed monster appear, but she bit her tongue and silently hoped that Beca wouldn't agree. Chloe internally sighed in relief when from the corner of her eye she saw that Beca squirmed from his grasp and put her hands on her hips.

"I don't want to keep trying, Jesse." Beca pulled a large manila envelope from the stack of important papers and bills that they kept near the fridge. She slid them across the counter towards Jesse. "Sign the papers, please?" She asked softly, trying not to be insensitive about the situation.

"Why do you want me to sign these so bad, huh?!" Jesse asked as he pulled all the papers from the envelope only to throw them onto the floor. At this point Chloe looked up and turned to Beca. She could see it on the brunette's face that her patience was running thin.

"Because I'm in love with someone else!"


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for the wait on this chapter. I got a bit busy this week. I am not sure if I will be posting a chapter for the next two weeks, but I am certainly going to try. This week I'm going to be doing some/most/all of the prompts for Bechloe Week on tumblr, so if you want to check those out my tumblr is: you-call-it-a-dude. Feel free to say hello to me on there, too! Then next week I will be on vacation and may not have time to write, but I'm still going to bring my laptop with and try if I find the time. Thank you all so much for the reviews on this story. All of your kind words mean the world to me and they definitely make me excited to write new chapters. I hope you enjoy!

"You're in love with someone else?" Jesse asked sounding defeated. "Since when? With who?"

"It's fairly recent." Beca said while fiddling with her shirt. She made eye contact with Chloe briefly. "I don't want to tell you who it is yet." Chloe sighed in relief. She wanted Beca to tell Jesse about them, but not under these current circumstances.

"C'mon, Bec. Just tell me who he is. Do I know him?" Beca remained quiet. She took the bowl of pancake batter and picked it up, tossing the entire bowl in the trash before exiting the kitchen. Jesse bent down and began picking up the papers that were scattered over the floor.

Chloe quietly slipped out of the kitchen to look for Beca. She made her way up to the master bedroom, but found it empty. She sighed loudly and decided to check the guest bedroom. She opened the door and saw Beca sitting on the edge the bed, wiping her face. The redhead walked in and shut the door behind her. Beca looked up and offered Chloe a small smile. She returned it and took a seat next to Beca on the bed. She wrapped her arm around the brunette and laid herself back on the bed, pulling Beca with her. In return, she buried her face in Chloe's neck and sighed. That sat in silence for a few minutes before Beca took let out a deep sigh and broke it.

"Am I a horrible person?" She asked quietly. Chloe pushed herself up a bit to look at the brunette.

"Why would you ask that?"

"I feel selfish. I went behind his back and I know that was selfish, but he wouldn't sign the papers, Chlo. I've been asking him for months and he wouldn't sign them." Beca was sounding increasingly frustrated as she continued to talk. Chloe pushed hair from her face and planted a soft kiss on Beca's forehead.

"You aren't selfish. He knew how you felt, but he wouldn't sign them. That's a pretty selfish thing, too, don't you think?" Beca just huffed in response and buried her face back in Chloe's neck. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything." She mumbled into the crook of her neck.

"Why did you stay and keep trying even though you knew you weren't in love with him?" Chloe chewed on her bottom lip nervously. She had no idea how Beca would react to this question, but she was genuinely curious to know. Beca sighed and sat up to straddle Chloe. She took both of Chloe's hands in hers and started to play with her thumb ring, alternating between twisting it and pulling it off then sliding it back on.

"You'll think it's stupid."

"No, baby. Never." She pulled Beca's left hand to her lips and placed a kiss on each of her knuckles. "Tell me, please?"

"It just seemed like the safe thing to do. I didn't think I would find anyone else to love me. God, this sounds so woe is me and it makes me sound so pathetic. He was the first person to actually love me, you know? I'm an awkward, broody, and certainly not the prettiest, person. I was worried that I would end up alone, so I married him. I thought I loved him. I thought it was normal to feel the way I did when you loved someone. But then I started to realize that I felt lonely with Jesse, too. That was when I asked for the divorce. Then that stupid gnawing feeling of being without anybody came back, so I would try harder." Beca paused to take a shaky breath in an attempt to keep her from getting too worked up. Chloe slipped her hand under Beca's t-shirt and rubbed her stomach softly with her fingertips. Beca shut her eyes for a moment before continuing. "He'd tell me things that help make people fall in love and I kept trying. Then around the time I met you he brought up the baby thing. That's when things got really scary. I don't want to bring a kid into a loveless marriage. That isn't fair. Then I met you and-gah- I barely what love is, but if what I have with you is what real love is, I don't want to lose it."

"I love you. So much." Chloe said lunging forward to press a hard kiss against Beca's lips. Their kiss was interrupted when Chloe's alarm blared through the room. "Shoot. I need to get ready for work, baby." Chloe said between kisses. Beca sighed and pulled away with a pout. Chloe reached for her phone on the nightstand to shut off the alarm. She sighed loudly when she saw a text from Luke. "Luke texted me."

"What?" Beca grabbed Chloe's phone from her hand and read Luke's text out loud. " 'Wanna talk to you, I'll wait for you by your parking spot at work before you start.' Uh no. I don't think so Lukey boy. I'll take you to work."

"You don't have to do that, Becs." Chloe said, finally rolling out of bed to begin getting ready for work.

"I want to. So you finish getting dressed and I'll do the same. I love you, too, by the way." Beca said sweetly before leaving the room.

Beca tiptoed to the master bedroom. She had no idea of Jesse's whereabouts in the house and she wasn't trying to have an awkward encounter with him right now. She knows they're going to have a discussion with just the two of them, but right now everyone needed to get ready for the day. She peeked into the bedroom and saw it was empty. She went through her normal routine faster than she usually would. By the time she finished, Chloe was just walking out the door of the guestroom. They smiled at each other before making their way downstairs. Jesse was still in the kitchen, except he was wearing his work attire that consisted of a tie, dress shirt, and dress pants. He was drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper.

"I'm going to take Chloe to work and then pick her up, too." Beca said as she grabbed her car keys from the hook.

"Okay, how come?" Jesse asked, not looking up from his newspaper.

"Luke texted her and said he'd be waiting for her at work. I don't trust it, so I'm just going to take her." Jesse nodded and gave Beca a thumbs up.

"I will no longer be speaking to him, but if he asks about you I won't let him know where you are, Chloe."

"Thank you, Jesse. I appreciate that."

Beca led Chloe through the front door and to the driveway where Beca's car was parked. The brunette opened the passenger door for Chloe, but before she could get in the car, Beca grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her lips.

"Have I told you how beautiful you look in your work clothes?" Beca said, pulling open Chloe's gray cardigan to get a better look at her white blouse.

"I don't believe you have."

"Well you look really fucking beautiful. And really sexy." Beca smiled wide and slid her hand down Chloe's back to rest against her ass. She gave it a firm squeeze before pressing another kiss against her lips and releasing her so she could get in the car and she shut the door behind her.

/

When Beca pulled up to Chloe's school, they both looked into the teacher parking lot and could see Luke leaning up against his car and looking at his phone. He was presumably texting Chloe because the redhead's phone was constantly going off with messages ranging from ' _Chloe, baby. I just want to talk'_ to _'Where the fuck are you, bitch'_. Chloe just sighed and put her phone into her purse. Beca leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against her lips, before confirming the time she would need to pick the redhead up. Chloe exited the car and Beca saw her make her way to the security office of the school to most likely tell them not to let Luke into the building. Once she was sure Chloe was safely inside, Beca drove off.

Since Beca didn't actually have to go into the studio until 11am, she decided to head back home for the remainder of her free time. She sighed loudly when she saw that Jesse was still at home. She wondered if he took the whole day off or if he just adjusted his schedule a bit. When she walked into the house, Jesse was still in the kitchen, but this time he was sitting at the kitchen table and had the divorce papers sitting in front of him. Beca silently took the seat across from him and stared at Jesse, waiting for him to speak.

"So, it's Chloe, huh?" He said calmly. Beca's jaw hung open a bit as she tried to figure out what exactly to say.

"What?" That was all Beca could come up. Very smooth, Beca.

"Chloe is the person you're in love with, right?"

"I-uh, yeah. Yes, it's Chloe. How did you know?"

"I saw you kissing her by the car before you dropped her off. You looked so happy with her." Jesse said sadly.

"Jesse, I'm so-"

"Let me talk, Beca." Beca held her hands up in defense and nodded her head. "I'm sorry I made you feel trapped into this marriage. I knew how you felt. I knew you didn't really love me, but I also exploited your fear of ending up alone and that was wrong of me. I know that now. At the time I didn't see it. I was so set on keeping myself from losing you and from being hurt that I was oblivious to the fact that I was hurting you. I just really love you a lot, Beca. For our entire relationship I was hoping that my love would be enough and that was silly of me to think that we would last if there were only one person in love."

"Jesse," Beca reached across the table and rested her hands on top of Jesse's. "I do love you. I'm just not in love with you. You're one of my best friends and you are such a sweet guy and such a doting partner. You're going to find someone who deserves your love and who will love you back. I'm so so sorry for hurting you." Beca said tearfully. She hated that she was hurting Jesse. She wasn't sorry for falling in love with Chloe and finally finding happiness, but Jesse was such a great person and Beca felt horrible for hurting him. It was almost like kicking a puppy.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, too, Beca." He slipped his hands from under Beca's and then placed them on top of hers, patting them softly before squeezing them. "I have never seen you smile so big before until I saw you looking at Chloe outside. She makes you happy?"

"She makes me so happy, Jess." Beca smiled wide even just talking about Chloe and Jesse smiled back at her in return. He pulled away from Beca's hands and took out on of the pens that he kept in his pocket protector. He looked down at the divorce papers sitting in front of him and signed his name on the line that had a 'sign here' post-it note next to it. He then slipped the papers back into the envelope and gently pushed them towards Beca.

"I'm not going to stand in the way of your happiness."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm sorry for how long it took me to update. I was on vacation and ended up not having any free time to write like I had hoped so. But now I am back and I'm hoping to get updates out every week again. Thank you all for your reviews on the last chapter, they are always welcome and greatly appreciated! I also want to thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Beca was practically radiating with excitement while she was on the way to pick up Chloe. She had so much to tell the girl. After Jesse signed the divorce papers, the two of them discussed some things further. Both of them decided that neither of them wished to live in the house on their own. They came to the agreement that they would put the house on the market and continue to live there until it sold, then both of them would go their separate ways and live in their own apartments. It was nice to clear the air between them. Beca told Jesse about how she met Chloe and how things progressed, all while apologizing profusely. Jesse did a bunch of apologizing of his own as well, asking Beca to forgive him for making her feel trapped and for refusing to sign the papers. At the end of their conversation they both felt lighter and grateful to still have each other in their lives as friends.

When Beca arrived at Chloe's school, she pulled around into the back parking lot instead of the front one, like Chloe requested. The redhead hopped in the car and let out a sigh as soon as she shut the door. Beca was looking at her with a wide smile and Chloe returned it. The brunette gave the girl a quick kiss before pulling out of the lot to head home.

"You're in a good mood." Chloe reached across to grab Beca's right hand.

"Oh, I am. Jesse signed the divorce papers." Beca said with a grin.

"What?! No way!"

"Yes way, baby! He knows the person I'm in love with is you." Chloe's face washed over with a slight panic. Beca quickly pulled Chloe's hands to her lips and kissed it softly to try and soothe her. "You don't need to worry, Chloe. He and I talked for a while and things are okay between us. We even discussed what to do with the house. We are going to live there until it sells and then we are going to move out." Beca chewed her bottom lip nervously. "You're more than welcome to come with me when I move out."

"You mean like move in with you?" Chloe questioned.

"I do. I just- I figured you would need to move out of that place because of Luke. I'm not trying to like fall into that lesbian U-Haul stereotype. You can even have a separate bedroom. I just want to keep you safe. Plus we are kind of already living together. It'll be a bit before the house sells, so just think about it? If you decide you don't want to I will help you look for your own apartment." Chloe gave Beca a soft smile. When they were stopped at a red light, Chloe pressed a kiss to Beca's lips.

"I'll think about it."

/

Chloe couldn't sleep for some reason. She felt restless and uneasy. She didn't understand it. She was happy about the news she got today. She could finally freely be with Beca, the girl she was in love with and who was in love with her too. The brunette even asked her if she wanted to get their own apartment together and Chloe was genuinely considering doing so. She looked over at the sleeping girl next to her and brushed the hair out of her face. Chloe quietly climbed out of bed to make her way downstairs to the kitchen for some water. When she entered the kitchen she was startled by Jesse, who was scooping himself some ice cream into a cup. It was awkward running into him. She hadn't actually seen him since this morning because he worked late and the girls were in bed by the time he got home. Chloe offered him a small smile and he kindly returned it.

"Want some?" He clicked the lever on the side of the scooper and waggled his eyebrows to the rhythm of it. Chloe let out a small laugh and pulled a bowl from the cupboard.

"I would love some." She slid the bowl next to him on the counter and he immediately started scooping ice cream into her dish.

"Seeing as I'm not dining alone, we should spruce our ice cream up a bit. There's some chocolate fudge in the fridge if you wanna grab it."

"Sure!" Chloe opened the fridge and pulled out the jar of fudge. She read the directions on the back of the jar and popped it into the microwave to melt it. Once it finished, Jesse handed her a spoon and she drizzled the fudge over both of their ice creams. Chloe was about to take a seat at the counter, but Jesse nudged his head towards the living room.

"You can come sit with me. I'm watching Ghost Adventures."

"Okay." Chloe silently followed Jesse into the living room. She sat down on the opposite end of the couch from Jesse.

Both of them watched the show in silence. The only sounds coming from each of them were the sound of their spoons scraping against their bowls. Once the ice cream was eaten and long forgotten, and they were now three episodes deep into Ghost Adventures, Chloe just couldn't hold back anymore. She looked at the man sitting next to her and blurted out an apology.

"Jesse, I'm so sorry." He looked towards Chloe and muted the TV before turning his whole body to face her.

"It's okay, Chloe." He said honestly.

"I feel so bad. I'm sorry that things happened the way they did."

"I know you are. If I'm being honest, I brought this upon myself. I gave Beca no other option but to cheat. So the blame isn't just on you or Beca. She and I talked, though, and I think the three of us could be really great friends. If you're okay with that."

"Of course I am, Jesse. That would be great." She gave him a big smile and he returned it for a moment before it dropped. "What's wrong?"

"Luke wasn't too thrilled that you didn't meet with him today. He also wasn't too thrilled that I ended my friendship with him. I didn't tell him where you were, but I think you should consider pressing charges."

"I've pressed charges on him before, but he said he changed so I dropped them. I think I've done that twice before. I'm going to talk to my best friend, Aubrey, about it. She doesn't know any of this happened, but maybe it's time she did. She's also a lawyer so hopefully she can help me with it." Jesse nodded in understanding and patted Chloe's knee.

"I think that would be a good idea. I also think that maybe this weekend the three of us, and maybe your friend Aubrey if you'd like, should head over to your apartment and pack your things. We can also speak to your landlord and talk to them about terminating your lease. Does that sound okay?" Chloe nodded tearfully. Jesse was such a sweet guy. He didn't have to help her or be nice to her, but he was anyway. "This will get fixed. Badass Beca will protect you and so will I, and I'm sure your friend will, too. You aren't alone anymore." Chloe couldn't contain herself anymore and lunged forward to give Jesse a hug.

"Thank you." She squeezed him tightly before pulling away. Just as she pulled away, she began to hear the sound of Beca sleepily calling for her from upstairs. "I guess I'll head to bed." Jesse stood up and gave her a salute before taking the bowls into the kitchen. Chloe shook her head and headed upstairs.

"Are you okay, babe?" Beca asked groggily. She immediately wrapped herself around the redhead once she was in bed. Chloe tangled her fingers in Beca's hair and started massaging her head and sighed contently.

"Never better."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Okay, so let me just say how sorry I am for taking so long to update. I started school and have been having to do a bunch of service hours and I have been extremely busy. Thank you all so much for your patience and your support. I promise that I am not abandoning this story. There is a trigger warning for this chapter because it mentions self-harm and some blood. Once again I am so so sorry. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Find me on tumblr at you-call-it-a-dude.

After her talk with Jesse, Chloe decided it was time give Aubrey a call. So the next morning before work started, she called up her best friend and they agreed to have dinner at Aubrey's that night. The redhead was nervous about how Aubrey may react to all the news she was laying on her at once; the abuse, the moving out, the finding a new lover. She didn't realize how much she was keeping from her best friend until she laid it all out on the table. Of course Aubrey was hurt and upset that Chloe would keep things from her, especially the abuse. The blonde pulled her friend into a tight hug and they both let themselves cry about it for a bit before Aubrey pulled away and started hitting Chloe with all this lawyer jargon about hitting Luke with lawsuits and restraining orders. She was reluctant to agree, but Aubrey started going on about having peace of mind and she finally folded.

When Saturday rolled around, Jesse, Beca, and Chloe made their way to Chloe's apartment with a U-Haul trailer and a stack of unassembled boxes that all of them were not looking forward to taping together. Aubrey would be joining them sometime in the early afternoon, but not before stopping by Chloe's landlord's apartment to discuss his absurd behavior when Chloe asked to terminate her lease. Lunchtime snuck up on them quickly so Jesse took it upon himself to go out and pick up some lunch for them and for Aubrey, who would be arriving shortly. Since Beca didn't want to help Chloe wrap up and pack plates, she sent the brunette into her bedroom to fold the clothes she kept in her closet.

Chloe was pulling plates from her cabinet and softly humming along to the music she could hear coming from Beca's laptop in the bedroom. Her front door was slightly ajar to allow airflow through the apartment, so the redhead didn't bat an eyelash when she heard it creak open a bit more. She assumed it was either a breeze pushing it open more or that Aubrey finally arrived. What she wasn't expecting was to hear Luke's voice.

"The fuck is this?" He said looking around the room at some of the packed and labeled boxes. Chloe tensed up immediately, but refused to turn around. Luke angrily kicked a box that said 'fragile' on it and Chloe jumped at the sound of her plates shattering. "Answer me!" Before she realized what was happening, Luke was pressed against her back with his hand in her hair, yanking her head back to make her look at him. "You trying to leave me? Huh?" He asked through clenched teeth, giving her hair a particularly hard yank to punctuate his sentence. Her eyes trailed to her closed bedroom door, silently praying that Beca would burst out and help her. Luke followed her eyes and shoved her away as he charged to the bedroom. "Is someone else here?" Chloe immediately ran to the bedroom door in an effort to get there before Luke did. He grabbed her by the waist and proceeded to pin her down to the floor.

The redhead gasped when her head hit the tile of the floor. Chloe turned her head to the side and shut her eyes tight in an attempt to block out the obscenities Luke was shouting at her. Just as soon as it started, it was over. Luke was yanked off of her and someone was ushering her to sit up. When she finally opened her eyes, she took in the scene around her. Beca had her arms tightly wrapped around Chloe. She pulled her into her chest and held her close. Jesse had Luke pressed against the wall with his arm twisted behind his back, while Aubrey screamed in his face and pulled out her phone to most likely call the police. Chloe squirmed out of Beca's grip. She stood up and headed into the bathroom, slamming the door and then locking it behind her.

/

Chloe's had been locked up in her bathroom for at least a half hour now. Aubrey tried coaxing her out after the cops came and removed Luke from the property, but the redhead wouldn't budge. Beca took a seat on the floor with her back against the door while Aubrey and Jesse continued packing up the kitchen. The two of them were engaging in a quiet conversation and Beca couldn't help but smile at how free Jesse seemed while talking to Aubrey.

Beca sat against the bathroom door, pleading with Chloe to let her in so they could talk. Or not talk and Beca would just comfort her. Aside from some sniffles, loud coughs, and some grunts, Chloe did not offer any type of response. After close to an hour, the bathroom lock clicked and the door swung open. Beca stood up immediately and stared at her girlfriend briefly. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had red splotches on her face. Beca frowned and opened her arms for the redhead, but she declined.

"Not right now, Becs…" She said softly before gently pushing past the brunette to head into the kitchen to help pack. Jesse poked his head up when Chloe entered the room and offered her a small smile. She responded by giving his bicep a squeeze and thanking him.

Beca sighed and ran her fingers threw her hair. She went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her gently. She pressed her hands on both sides of the sink and stared at herself in the mirror. She looked like a mess. Her jaw hurt from clenching it to keep herself from crying, but her eyes were still red from her failed attempts. She opened up the medicine cabinet and pulled out the Excedrin. She took two and as she placed the medicine bottle into the cabinet, she couldn't help but notice the arrangement of pill bottles the redhead had. Looking through the different names, she quickly deduced that most of these meds were anxiety/depression related and a lot of the bottles were full or expired. She also came across what she thought was an empty pill bottle. She picked up the bottle and when it rattled, she curiously opened up the lid. When she popped the lid off, she looked into the bottle to see a razor blade.

She carefully tipped the bottle into the palm of her hand and inspected the blade. She frowned when she noticed the blade had water droplets on it. Had it been washed? She knew she heard the sink running before Chloe left the bathroom. She placed the razor back into the bottle and put the bottle back into the cabinet. She quickly locked the door and started looking around the bathroom. She was about to lift the toilet lid, but she never heard a flush so checking in there would be pointless. She went to the trashcan next, but it was empty and there was no bag in it. She knew there was one in it earlier and Chloe didn't leave the room without a bag, so it had to be in there somewhere.

She felt horrible snooping through her girlfriend's bathroom, but she needed to make sure what she thought was happening was or was not happening. There was nothing under the sink, nothing in the linen cabinet, and nothing in any of the drawers. She sat herself on the closed lid of the toilet and sighed loudly. She took one last glance around the room when a tied up, plastic bag shoved behind the plunger and toilet brush caught her eye. She snatched it up and rested it on her lap. She took a deep breath and as she began to untie it there was a knock on the door that startled her.

"Yeah?!" She said kind of sharply, immediately cursing at herself for it.

"Um, we are going to eat lunch now if you want to come out." Chloe said quietly through the door.

"I'll be out in a second, baby." Beca said sweetly. Beca shook off her nerves and began to untie the bag. She took a deep breath before she opened the bag. She felt her heart sink at the sight of the blood stained tissues thrown into the bag. "Shit."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: It's been too long. Way too long and I'm so sorry. School just has me so swamped and too tired to write. But thank you all so much for being patient and continuing to be supportive of my story and me. Your reviews are always welcomed and definitely appreciated. They keep me motivated to continue. With that being said, there's a trigger warning for this chapter involving self-harm and brief mention of suicide. Proceed with caution. If any of you reading are struggling with self-harm, suicidal thoughts, anything of that sort, my inboxes on tumblr (you-call-it-a-dude) and on here are always open and I'm here for any of you that may need it. Thank you again for the support, I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Beca took a deep breath and exited the bathroom. Jesse, Aubrey, and Chloe were all at the table eating and acting as if nothing had happened. Chloe smiled up at Beca and patted the chair next to her. She nodded and sat down. She quietly ate her lunch without really acknowledging the conversation happening around her. She kept staring at Chloe's arms. She was wearing a short sleeve and her soft skin looked untouched. Beca didn't know how self-harm worked. She wasn't going to act like she did. Something she did know was that she wanted to bring this up to Chloe at some point, but not just yet.

That night when they all got home, Chloe decided she was going to take a shower. Beca asks if she could use the restroom before Chloe got in and that she would even start the water for her. The brunette went into the bathroom and started the shower. As a precaution, Beca cleared the razors from her shower and put them under the sink behind the toilet paper rolls for the time being. After she left the bathroom a topless Chloe greeted her. The redhead pulled her girlfriend in for a passionate kiss before thanking her. When Chloe walked into the bathroom and shut the door, Beca noted that this time she kept her pants on as opposed to being naked like she usually is before she enters the bathroom for a shower.

While Chloe took her long shower, Beca pulled out her laptop and did some research. She looked up self-harm and read up on it. She also looked up and read numerous articles on how to approach it and how to best be supportive of someone you love that self-harms. Beca fucked up a lot of things in her life, but this wasn't about to be one of them. She heard rustling in the bathroom and shut her laptop, placing it on the nightstand next to her bed. She waited patiently for a moment before Chloe came out dressed in her pajamas with her hair brushed. She looked adorable, like always. She opened her legs and patted the space between them.

"Come here, love. I wanna talk to you for a bit." Chloe's breath hitched and Beca could see the nervousness written all over her face. "It's okay, I promise." Beca said softly. Chloe crawled into the space between her legs and rested her back against her girlfriend's chest. The brunette wrapped her arms around and tightly and Chloe relaxed.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about what happened today." Beca said softly. Chloe immediately broke from the embrace and rolled over Beca's legs.

"I don't." She said with a sharp tone as she crawled in her spot on the bed, making sure to face away from the brunette.

"Why are you being so defensive?" Beca said with a bit of an attitude. She noticed it and quickly changed her tone to something softer. "I just want to talk, baby." She put her hand on Chloe's hip and she tensed up.

"Please, I really don't want to be touched right now." Beca pulled her hand away and frowned.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"I got slammed on the floor today by my abusive ex boyfriend. Excuse me for not wanting to be touched for a while." Chloe snapped. She ripped the blankets off of her and stomped into the bathroom.

"Chlo wait-" Beca was interrupted by the bathroom door slamming shut.

/

Once Chloe slammed the door shut behind her, she pressed her back to it and let out a shaky breath. Everything that happened today was hitting her all at once. She tried so hard not to let it bother her and she thought she was doing a good job, but Beca asking to talk about it triggered something in her. She became closed off and angry. On top of that, now Beca is probably going to be really mad at her and all these thoughts of Beca leaving her over this argument flood into Chloe's head. She slides down the door and rests her head against it. She shuts her eyes for a second before taking a deep breath and slamming the back of her head against the door.

"So stupid. You ruin everything, Chloe." She slammed her head against the door one more time before letting out a loud sob.

She hated herself and she hated the person she's become because of Luke. He took something from her that she can never get back. She used to love love and being in love. It was never something that scared her. Luke took that from her. No matter how much she tells herself she deserves love, all she can hear is the bullshit Luke told her throughout their relationship. His favorite things to tell her was that nobody will love her after him and that she deserved to get hit. Except she's found someone who loves her and who would never lay a hand on her, but all she can think about is the possibility of Beca not staying or giving up on her because she's damaged or Beca turning into something vicious in the next few months. She knows these thoughts are stupid and she feels stupid for thinking them, but she can't stop.

Chloe stood up from the bathroom floor and opened the medicine cabinet to pull out Neosporin. She grabbed a couple of cotton swabs from the drawer and sat on the closed lid of the toilet. She pulled up the left leg of her loose fitting pajama pants and stared at the five thin lines on her thigh. She doesn't know why she did it. She hadn't cut herself since 8th grade. The reason she stopped was because her best friend at the time accidentally cut too deep and killed herself. Chloe told her mom about her cutting after her friend's accidental suicide and her mom, unsure of what to say, simply told Chloe she was too pretty to be having scars on her body. She had found other ways to punish herself, ways that didn't leave marks. Things from pinching herself, punching walls, and other ways she's discovered over the years.

She doesn't know why today she needed to cut. She went into the bathroom after the situation with Luke because she was embarrassed that it happened in front of so many people. She had intended to go in there just to cry it out, but when she opened her medicine cabinet to pull out some Excedrin for her headache, she found the razor for that tool she has for scraping dead skin off of her feet. Without even thinking, she grabbed it, pulled down her pants, and started to cut. It wasn't until she was five cuts in that she snapped out of whatever daze she was in. She also realized she never cleaned off the razor before using it. She felt stupid after doing it so she cleaned off the blood, washed the razor, put it back in place, and left the bathroom.

Now she's at home, sitting on the toilet once again, looking down at those five cuts. They weren't thick and they weren't deep, but her not washing the razor came back to haunt her because now they're raised, red, and feel hot to the touch. She can't find any rubbing alcohol in this bathroom so she can't properly clean it. Which means she's going to have to ask Beca for the rubbing alcohol and then she'll have to tell Beca why she needs it. The thought of having to tell Beca about this makes Chloe anxious because then she's probably going to have to reveal her self-harm history to her. It wasn't something she looked forward to, but she also knew Beca would eventually find out and she really needed something to properly clean her cuts.

Chloe walked out of the bathroom and went into the bedroom to get Beca. Her breath hitched when she saw the brunette was gone, but she quickly calmed down when she was able to make out the sound of her voice coming somewhere from downstairs. She made her way over to the staircase and let out a long sigh before leaning against the banister to shout for Beca.

"Becs, can you come upstairs please?" Chloe shouted, immediately biting her lip afterward in anticipation.

" _Coming!"_


End file.
